


When Things End Up A Little Different

by WowSoBoring



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Easy - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Set Up, Mutual Pining, Some Humor, simplistic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24891235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WowSoBoring/pseuds/WowSoBoring
Summary: Repost (original author):Abed doesn't meet Rachel in Analysis of Cork-Based Networking. Jeff finds a secret about Abed and lets Britta and Shirley in it. Troy decides to make his voyage a bit quicker and cut back on sightseeing after getting attacked by pirates so his return is covered in the last chapter which is kinda long.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Things are looking down

**Author's Note:**

> Tried to show Jeff in a good light because I like Jeff. I also sip Jeff and Annie on some level so there are no obstacles and I tried to not demean that pairing or create some sort of romantic rivalry. I love Jeff and Abed's dynamic and how similar and different they are at the same time and I can only imagine Jeff being supportive of Abed and Annie at least at this point of time.
> 
> POVs- Britta and Annie

_"I'm sorry, Abed, but to the spoiler goes the victory." "But I really liked her."_

_"She probably likes you too, but she also likes cash."_

_"I'm devastated."_

_Abed quickly walked out of the ballroom while Britta was calling out his name with guilt and regret._

Britta felt a surge of guilt going through her veins. She had to do that, didn't she? She easily could've just let it go or found a more civil way to clap back with those spoilers. Britta usually couldn't admit she was wrong but now she felt like she couldn't have done anything worse in her entire time at Greendale. She had finally made Abed's eyes well up with tears. But because of the demeanor he always tried to portray, he wasn't exactly crying. He seemed to be trying very hard to not let tears out. Abed looked like a person who'd been through a lot of problems and he probably had. Britta had seen people take advantage of him and use him as a punching bag because of his patience. He hardly ever got mad. Even four years ago, when Annie screamed at him during Duncan's experiment or when Troy tried to avoid him at that weird Halloween party three years ago because he didn't want a reputation for being a nerd. Even when Jeff seemed to take out all his anger on Abed for Pierce and his dad back when he was shooting one of his first documentaries. He never even got angry when Pierce kept making racist remarks at him.

The only thing Abed couldn't take well was change and lack of logic, rest of the times you could be as blunt as you wanted, as rude as you wanted and he'd understand. Britta had seen everyone in the study group cry- Jeff when he found out he had to attend summer school, Annie on multiple occasions, Troy usually wore his heart on his sleeve, Pierce when he finally told everyone about how deserted and excluded he felt and Shirley too on various occasions. But never Abed. And she didn't want to be the person behind it.

The whole part where Hickey drilled in the bulletin board and Annie defended him from security was a good distraction but it was a bit of a blur.

"Where's Abed?", Annie suddenly asked.

"Uh, I don't know...", Britta figured she had to tell Annie what happened but before she could...

"Oh, it's okay. He left me a text saying he'll be home.", Annie responded. Her smile turned into a frown, "wait, that doesn't make sense. He seemed very happy today...". Annie's face lit up again (with a sense of uncertainty as if she was pretending to be happy but what did she know as an overzealous psych major?), "Maybe he went home with that redhead! They seemed to be hitting it off."

"Uh...about that..." Britta replied. She told Annie everything and made herself sound as bad as she could.

Annie looked toward Britta disapprovingly while Britta looked downwards.

"well, you know that girl doesn't sound like such a good person. If she actually liked Abed, she wouldn't agree to do that in the first place. That still doesn't excuse what you did, though." Annie finally broke the silence.

It was 10 o' clock. It was time to go home.

"Well, I should be leaving now." Annie said.

"Wait..", said Britta, "I'll come with you. I'll try to make it up to him somehow! Maybe I could get Troy to--"

Annie looked at her disapprovingly once more.

"I'll try something. I'm not lying when I said that he looked like he was tearing up", said Britta

"You probably should", Annie said strongly, trying for a smile. Britta seemed quite sorry and had never seemed so serious about anything.

* * *

Annie was very happy at how Abed was dealing with Troy's departure. Troy and Britta's clone idea seemed to be working flawlessly. Both of them still missed Troy a lot. Abed usually seemed wistful whenever he talked to or about Troy. The Childish Tycoon had in-built wi-fi because LeVar Burton was on it. Troy would regularly tweeting and since Troy was participating actively and pretty seriously in the whole clone thing (he seemed to be taking it literally which she both admired and rolled her eyes towards) he was able to talk to LeVar Burton without, you know, freaking out and running away screaming.

She always admired Abed. Ever since she helped him develop empathy and ever since he became more sensitive and better than handling change, she had newfound respect for him. Despite how much he'd evolved, Abed was still his quirky, honest and childish self. If she was being honest, her feelings for Jeff had nearly gone away. What was it with Jeff and her? He seemed like a nice person but there was too little in common. She was tired of whatever kept happening between them. Random bursts of electricity, a couple of glances and even a couple of kisses but no explanation. No commitment of any sort. Sometimes it just seemed like a guilty pleasure. A tiny crush. Maybe the fact that they were so controversial made it seem interesting but it seemed to be gone. Sometimes, she'd even pretend to be jealous whenever Jeff dated anyone else just for the sake of it.

For some reason, she felt more jealous when Abed walked out with Rachel in that Sophie B Hawkins dance for some reason. Why did she set Kat with him? She was just testing whether or not Abed needed someone exactly like him to be happy. When Abed looked disinterested in Kat, she couldn't help but smile. She also didn't feel like she was losing to Shirley because Abed seemed equally disinterested (if not more) in that Jessica person too. She remembered all those years ago when Pierce very inappropriately confessed that he referred to Britta and she as "flat butt" and the one "Ay-bed wants to nail". Who was who? Annie wasn't into objectifying other people's body parts so she just assumed Britta was flat-butt. Abed also seemed to have some game. Don Draper. Han Solo. Batman. Even when he was being himself, Annie could still see people flirting with Abed all the time (she seemed to assume it was more of a "look based" thing because he was pretty good looking.) She even remembered that he once made out with "the hottest girl on campus" so he had to have some game. She didn't spend a lot if time thinking about Abed that way though but she always had fun doing it whenever she did

Britta and her finally reached Apartment 303. She hoped that Abed wouldn't be sad. She really didn't want him to be hung up on a girl who would treat him like that just for some cash. She opened her door and saw Abed doing something she'd never seen him do before...

he was writing in a journal.

He stealthily and instinctively jumped up and closed the journal and acknowledged the both of them with what looked like a fake smile.

"I was just considering some plot ideas about a movie I want to work on in the future,", He said quickly.

Annie had a good eyesight. The journal read, "Introspection/Thoughts" on its cover page. His film journal was titled "Film Journal". Fishy but not important right now.

"I'm so sorry Abed", Britta said hopefully, "is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"That's okay, Britta", Abed responded, "If that girl really did like me, she probably wouldn't have let me go through all that just for some cash. I shouldn't have spoiled Bloodlines of Conquest. I just wanted to see what it was like to have a fight with someone about a petty issue. The Pillows and Blankets saga I had with original Troy was a serious war but this was more of a childish brawlsomething I've never experienced", he continued on with his fake smile.

(annie couldn't help but smile)

"So, you weren't upset?", Britta asked

"Oh, I was devastated. It just took me some time to get over it. I chatted with Troy and we talked about the latest episode of Inspector Spacetime. He's got an extra room in that ship and he's working on making that a Dreamatorium!", he said enthusiastically.

Britta smiled contentedly, bid her goodbyes and left.

"Hey!", Annie said, "would you like to watch something.? I hear there's this show about a

Community college worth checking out."

"I'm actually quite sleepy and I have film class tomorrow so is it okay if I just go to sleep now", he asked, clutching his journal.

"Sure! Good night!", Annie said.

"Night.", Abed responded.

.

Annie opened her 2011 journal and opened the page where she talked about paintball. When she reached the part where she and Abed were about to kiss, she felt goosebumps. She was never able to understand why she described that kiss in such intricate detail and why she was so disappointed when Abed just said "Cool" and walked away. It was the heat of the moment. She still thought about the Annie-of-it-all, though.

She wasn't able to understand and wrap her head around Abed writing a journal about his "thoughts and introspection". It was none of her business though. He seemed pretty secretive about it and she'd never seen it before. He probably was just curious. It was always in Annie's nature to play detective, though but she scolded herself. She had to respect her boundaries


	2. Things weren't kept at the right place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Switches to the POVs of Abed and Jeff. A month after the last story. We learn more about Abed's journal and the time Jeff comes across it

> _"I'm still on London time. Does that count?"_
> 
> _\- Friends (The One After Ross Says Rachel)_

Abed decided to randomly watch Friends instead of sleeping. Not randomly though, he seemed to have felt like it. He was a little shaken up. He hoped that no one had noticed his personal journal. Sometimes he feared that its title was too formal and official that someone might open it for the sake of information. He never really thought that until Troy pointed it out once when Abed walked in on him on the first page of that journal.

The first page didn't contain anything personal at all. He'd offered to help the Dean out with his novel, Time Desk: The Chronicles of Dean Dangerous. the Dean didn't want anyone else to know that he took help from someone so Abed wrote it in the secretive journal. The first line read _"Would that this desk were a time desk so he could go back in time. Ride dinosaurs. Fight with Jack the_

 _Ripper..."_ , it sounded like overly-stylized garbage but it wasn't exactly Abed's fault because the Dean told him those keywords.

He had divided this journal into two halves, thoughts and introspection. The end of the journal contained 10 pages. The most secretive pages being the reason behind why he hid this diary. Those last 10 pages were for his realizations. On those rare occasions where his thoughts or introspection was refined enough to form a conclusion. There were only two realizations.

His phone beeped. A text from Troy:

"I'm legit bored."

Abed smirked. He loved when Troy used words like "legit" and "awesome". They were very much in character for his demeanor and that satisfied him.

He texted back:

"You could talk to LeVar Burton."

"He's sleeping. What are you up to?"

"Just watching some Friends. Wrote some stuff in my journal."

"I was thinking, how about we do a Troy and Abed in the Morning (nights!) tomorrow at 3. We could record a video chat and have LeVar Burton as the special guest!"

"That's a great idea. I'll tell Annie before hand so that she doesn't get mad at us like last time." "Woah. Why didn't we think of the last time?

That empathy thing has been working for you, man"

"Thanks."

"Okay, I gotta go and make some dinner."

"Bye"

Abed and Troy had decided to look up details for world tours. If someone wanted to do extreme sight-seeing, it could take 3 to 5 years but Troy was afraid of pirates. Recently Troy and LeVar got held under captive by pirates but managed to escape somehow. Troy had gotten even more afraid of this Troyage ever since and decided to ditch the long trip and quickly finish it in a year.and a half That was a more comforting notion for both Troy and Abed and also the whole study group.

He went to sleep.

***

Abed woke up at 8 the subsequent morning. It was an optional Saturday for Greendale students. Annie often went to Greendale on optional Saturdays. Abed always stayed home and wrote in his journal whenever Annie did go. He stepped outside his room and got ready (he always took a bath, first thing in the morning. Unlike, Troy he had a lot of personal hygiene), Annie had already left. He brought out his journal and sat on his recliner and opened the "realization" column. He read his most recent conclusion:

_"I probably have a crush on Annie"_

His phone immediately rang. It was the Dean. Abed frowned and picked up. "Dean dean!", The Dean chuckled, "Uh, anyway we have to make some edits to the Greendale ad, you know. We're offerin some other classes and apparently the deadline is today. It's kind of an emergency. Please

come"

"Cool.", Abed said, "cool, cool cool."

He took the word "emergency" too seriously doing two very stupid things. Forgetting his laptop (which is where he'd make the edits) and leaving his super secret journal on the dining table.

The word 'emergency' always triggered him...

* * *

Jeff felt different now. He'd developed a stronger affection for Greendale as if it were his home.

"Greendale always accepted me, sickness and all", he remembered Pierce saying three years ago.

One of the few pearls of wisdom Pierce gave away. He didn't want to admit it but he did miss Pierce. Pierce was someone who would always say something silly and sometimes say things that were relatable. In truth, Pierce was his cautionary tale. He remembered seeing himself as a younger version of him and that were one of the few things that motivated him to change. He missed Troy more though but he never said it out loud, he didn't want anyone to become sadder. Abed kept saying again and again that the darkest timeline was when Troy went to get the pizza, he never believed in that timeline crap until that weird paintball game took place in his head on his "last" day at Greendale as a student.

The Dean called him for help for a new ad. He usually never went on optional Saturdays. Doing 'extra' was his definition of failing. It was one of his principles and Jeff Winger always stood by his principles. He went anyway, though because the Dean promised him extra chicken nuggets. He'd probably not be alone though. Annie'd probably be there. Abed never went though. Those were one of the few (or many) things he had in common with Abed. His relationship with Abed was always special, he was the first student he met at Greendale. Abed thought outside the box and always seemed to know what was up (like the real Dean being held captive by Dictator Chang) and was somehow always right. Jeff could easily relate to that.

He drove to Greendale and went to the study room where he met the Dean, Annie, Abed, Britta, Shirley and Duncan. Apparently this ad thing was serious.

"Jeff, hi!", Annie said cheerfully. Everybody greeted him. Abed was frowning as if he was remembering something.

Abed finally remembered it, "hey, I have to go back home real quick. I took the word 'emergency' too seriously and forgot my laptop which is where I would do the editing."

"It is an emergency, Abed. You're also the cameraman.", the Dean said rolling his eyes.

"Jeff, can you get it?", Annie asked smilingly.

"I don't knowww....", Jeff said lazily.

"Please...", everyone joined in.

"Ugh, okay!".

"Keys!", Abed tossed his apartment keys.

While driving home, Jeff thought of Annie. She seemed disinterested in him which was kind of a relief if he was being honest. She tended to look up to him as if he was some sort of an authority figure and that always freaked him out for multiple reasons. The age gap seemed kind of creepy and Annie seemed like she had outgrown her schoolgirl crush. He randomly remembered an interaction he had with Pavel after his second paintball game:

"Hey bro. Are Abed and Annie going out or something?"

"Uh, I don't think so, Pavel. Why?"

"I saw them kissing in the library, covered in paint and everything..."

Annie and Abed seemed to make more sense as friends but it wouldn't be that bad if they went out. They were childishly competitive. Abed had learned empathy from her and was more adept at understanding social cues, he also helped her have fun and let her hair down once in a while. Annie didn't seem to find Abed annoying and vice versa. They also enjoyed roleplaying from what he had seen.

He parked his car and proceeded to go upstairs

***

Abed's laptop was on his dining table along with a diary with a brown cover. The diary read, 'thoughts/introspection'. Jeff smirked, this was so Abed. This diary was probably about his feelings and/or opinions. Not thinking it was anything serious or secret (since it was out in the open), Jeff opened it.

 _"Would that this desk were a time desk so that he could go back in time. Ride dinosaurs. Fight with Jack the Ripper."_ That page was titled, "for the Dean". Jeff scowled. So the Dean didn't even write his novel himself. Never mind, Abed probably didn't want to be associated with that overlystylized garbage of a book. The next page measured the romantic compatibility of the study group members (Abed had graciously excluded Shirley and Pierce and kept the pairings heterosexual). It read:

> _Jeff- Britta_
> 
> _7/10_
> 
> _Competitive and fragile egos compliment each other_
> 
> _Britta's able to call Jeff out_
> 
> _Visible sexual chemistry_
> 
> _Jeff-Annie_
> 
> _7.5/10_
> 
> _Mutual crush_
> 
> _Leading lady and alpha male_
> 
> _Some level of creepiness according to Troy_
> 
> _Troy-Britta_
> 
> _7/10_
> 
> _Britta doesn't pressure Troy to feel like an adult_
> 
> _Troy lets Britta be herself_
> 
> _Teasing each other_
> 
> _Tend to fade to the background as a couple_
> 
> _Troy-Annie_
> 
> _5/10_
> 
> _More of Annie's schoolgirl crush and Troy liking Annie for her looks_
> 
> _No tension_
> 
> _Abed-Britta 1/10_
> 
> _Probably won't last a day. She'll try to study my head which will effectively annoy me._
> 
> _Abed-Annie_
> 
> _7.5/10_
> 
> _Equally competitive_
> 
> _Bring out the good in each other_
> 
> _Leading lady will not be with the comic relief/nerd/socially awkward guy Good kisser (from personal experience)_

Abed had an excellent handwriting but the ink on the Abed/Annie column was smudged. Jeff frowned. What was this "leading lady/alpha male" stuff? It seemed to make no sense. He didn't mean to think like Britta but Abed was needlessly making himself sad. Did he like Annie or something? He never quite believed what Pavel told him about the kiss but now he had to believe it. He turned to the realization section of the journal. There was a realization dated yesterday:

> _I probably have a crush on Annie._

For reasons only Jeff could understand, he smiled. He somehow got an impulse which he complied to. He immediately snapped a picture and sent it to Shirley. Maybe he wanted to discuss this with her since they had so much fun gossiping. His smile immediately faded though when he realized that Shirley was horrible at keeping secrets...


	3. Look how that worked out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirley receives a text from Jeff. Jeff doesn't want to involve himself in other people's business but Britta and Shirley won't shy away from a little meddling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV of Shirley

Shirley received a text from Jeff. A picture from Abed's diary saying that he has a crush on Annie.

She shrieked forgetting that there were other people in the room. The next text from Jeff said,

"DON'T TELL THIS TO ANYONE!"

"How about Britta?", she texted back.

"Do you think she can keep her mouth shut?"

"Yes, I trust Britta!", she replied self-righteously.

"Okay fine, but if she Brittas this, it's your fault!" "Fine.", she stopped texting.

Everyone was glaring at her. Apparently her shrieking did attract some attention.

"What was that Shirley?", Britta asked.

"Oh nothing! Would you please come with me to the bathroom?", Shirley hastily replied.

Annie looked visibly hurt from this exclusion.

Britta and Shirley reached the bathroom.

"What?", Britta said, "You know, Annie doesn't like being excluded."

Shirley shushed her. Britta aggressively shushed back.

Looking heavenwards, Shirley opened her cell phone and showed her Jeff's texts.

"Wow! This is perfect!"

"Yes!", Shirley said. "wait, perfect?"

"Oh, I'm not supposed to say..."

"Okay I forced Jeff to allow me because I trusted you and now--",

"Okay, okay.", Britta said. "Annie likes Abed too. She told me last month."

"Oh that's great!", Shirley's voice then got an octave lower, "so she feels excluded but you guys share everything without me all the time?"

"C'mon Shirley! She wasn't meaning to tell anyone! It was just a slip of her tongue. She swore me to it!", Britta defended herself

"Okay, I believe you Brit-ta..." Shirley said. She didn't want to go through another CD which supposedly contained the group trash talking about her but contained nothing of the sort.

***

They were finally done with editing at 1 o' clock. Shirley suddenly noticed the eyes Annie made at Abed randomly while he was editing the ad, asking for any recommendations while his eyes were focused on his laptop.

"So, I'm going to take off...'', Jeff said.

"This was done earlier than I expected," said Britta, "Three hour lunch? three hour lunch? three hour lunch?"

"It's not a normal day, it's an optional Saturday...", Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Whatever!", Britta rolled her eyes too.

"I heard of this diner we should check out. Let's go there", Britta said

Shirley received a text from Britta: "improvize!"

"Oh, um, didn't you have to show Jeff and I your new cat, Brit-ta?", Shirley said hastily. She was no good at making things up.

Jeff eyed both of them, annoyed. Typical Jeff, he hated being involved in other people's feelings.

Shirley eyed him with the most intense look she could conjure.

"Oh, it looks like Annie and Abed have to go there alone now...sweet", Jeff said with a half heart.

Shirley couldn't blame him. Jeff seemed way out of his element there.

"Oh, cool!," Annie said, her face lighting up

Shirley texted Jeff, "Annie might consider it as a friends outing, Britta just told me that Annie likes

Abed too. It's a secret. Should I send Annie the picture you sent me."

Jeff scratched his head, "okay, make Britta forward it to Annie."

Shirley realized what Jeff meant, "ok", she replied quickly

"Oh-kay, who are you all texting at the same time. You know, this is exactly what I expected from Americans. So scared of human confrontation that they can't talk to each other directly. Oh I should write that down!", Duncan said randomly. Shirley'd forgotten he was there.

"Um nothing!" Britta said.

Shirley forwarded the picture Jeff sent to Britta saying "forward this to Annie or she might think it's just dinner with a friend"

"On it", Britta texted back

A few seconds later, Annie's phone beeped. She checked it and her face lit up.

"Okay, you and I should get going, Abed!"

"Cool.", Abed said, "cool, cool, cool.", They went out, arm in arm.

Like they did on a daily basis?


	4. A little help from Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go out to dinner uwu  
> Too good to be true? Well the reason being, I don't like obstacles in romance and even if things don't work out that well in reality, this is a fan fiction I wrote for comfort. I like happy endings even if they're actually kind of rare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV of Annie and Abed!

> _"I probably have a crush on Annie"_

**Driving to the diner**

Annie knew that it was Abed's handwriting. That was because Abed had this distinct way of writing. Instead of cursive, he used the printing technique and his i's had cute little circle shaped dots. Printing only works for certain people and it's really hard to keep up with but someone who has that handwriting naturally can do it flawlessly since it's always more legible and the words are never confused. Annie chided herself. She was getting nervously sidetracked. She remembered that paintball kiss she had with Abed covered in orange paint. It was a moment between Leia and Han, right? She always got confused when she thought about it. What was it supposed to mean? That Abed liked her or that Abed wanted to feel like the main character or the fact that Abed was channeling someone who Abed thought was Jeff and--

Her phone beeped

"he probably will think it's a dinner between friends. something platonic. apparently something to do with the comic relief and the leading lady and the alpha male", Britta texted her

now she was significantly less confused. He did the Han thing on purpose, didn't he? To find a way to get closer to her? She was certain that she was right and Annie had a strong hunch she was right. She had to be.

They reached the diner...

And they worked their way to the table of the diner. Which was apparently called, "Streets Ahead diner"

Aww, someone honored Pierce!

"This is a nice place", Abed commented

"Yep, it's pretty cute," Annie said, smiling all over.

"They sell lasagna, that could be interesting", Abed said

Annie had to find a way to turn that dinner to a real date.

"Turkey sandwich! That's funny. Didn't we just watch that episode yesterday of Friends where

Ross freaks out when his boss stole the turkey sandwich?" said Abed "Yeah", Annie blushed, twirling her hair.

The waiter came over to their table. They ordered two lemonades, a lasagna and a turkey sandwich to split among themselves.

wait. Friends? Something struck Annie quickly and she impulsively blurted it out,

"You know what I like about Friends? They tried to explore pairings. Even the ones that didn't make a lot of sense. The ones that could, you know, disrupt the balance of the group or something. Everyone wanted Ross and Rachel to get together but it didn't work even though they had chemistry and everything. People were too surprised with Monica and Chandler but they turned out to be an amazing relationship", Annie said.

"Yeah, you're right!". His phone buzzed, he looked like he'd received a text. He looked up at Annie with something that looked like a blush. He continued after her, "maybe dynamics aren't that important to focus on and sometimes people should live in the moment. Chandler wanted to let his romance with Monica stay in London because he was too worried about how that would affect the group but when he and Monica reached New York, they couldn't help it...They blamed London's romantic environment on them getting together"

This sounded all to similar to Annie. Maybe London was her and Abed's paintball experience. A different world they had to snap out of where the atmosphere forced them together. Another thought struck Annie which she again blurted out, "Weren't Chandler and Monica always supposed to end up together? Even when they explored a parallel universe where all the friends looked and worked different, they still ended up together..."

Abed pulled up his sleeves and shivered as if he were having goosebumps. They leaned in instinctively at the same time and kissed. Less intense and more wholesome. Their hands were on the table and at the same time, the both of them realized that they were at a public setting. Abed pulled away and whispered softly, "I have a good memory. We could easily pick up where we left off."

She nodded.

The whole time they were eating food was a blur. She felt happy. Everything was perfect. Abed was possibly the best version of himself. He was empathetic and understanding and well adjusted, socially but still quirky and logical and childish. She loved that. No one had to cater to Abed anymore. No one had to worry that he'd shriek in a high-pitched voice and black out with his eyes unblinking and wide open. He'd evolved. If Troy came back, Abed would probably be happier.

Whatever had been going on in her head for three years was finally resolved. Abed paid the bill, offered her his hand and they walked home.

* * *

**Driving home**

Abed felt like he'd left the TV realm and was transitioning into some sort of fan fiction. He had no complains with that. He always found fan fiction interesting to read. Sometimes when he was not satisfied with how a movie or a show ended, he'd read or write some fan fiction. It was oddly therapeutic even though it was too good to be true. But this was real life which made it all the more better. He thought about Annie all the way while going home.

Abed was an oddly modest person but modest people never claim they're modest. Now that he'd matured, he was able to bring out the fun side of Annie. She visibly didn't have to worry about him anymore. In fact no one in the study group had been treating him the way they did during the gas leak year with that utmost level of caution. That was a particularly weird year...It seemed that Troy leaving had made him more able to cope with change and adjust better and if Troy came back now, their relationship will still be the same. (maybe a little awkward at first, he was still living in real life). He thought about him and Annie being in a relationship and poor Troy feeling like a third wheel. It wouldn't last though. Troy was still a hit among college girls and now that he had seen the whole world and lived through a pirate experience, he'd possibly have more game. Maybe they could go on double dates. Abed was doing some out of character thinking but he didn't really care about that. He was still himself. Just a better and happier version with more things to look forward to than an episode of Inspector Spacetime every week.

It wasn't a long walk back home. Annie opened the door and before anything happened, she decided to resume the kiss from the restaurant. The more certain and satisfying kiss. He put his hands on her waist and she decided to deepen the kiss as she ran her hands through his hair. At some point, she slipped in her tongue and he decided not to think and remember more details (everyone kept chiding him when he over-described things), she pulled away for breath and his phone rang. Apparently his father needed help in the restaurant. He really didn't want to go but his father was very strict and Abed didn't like taking his chances with him. At least he'd make some money. He apologized. Annie smiled.

***

It was a busy day. He reached home at 9 o' clock. Annie was drinking some chocolate milk.

"Hi", he said.

"Hi!", she blushed.

"I think I should go to sleep now. I have a lot of futuristic scenarios to think about at night.", he said.

"Me too...", she kissed his forehead and went to her bedroom.

He smiled genuinely the first time in weeks.

He had a text from Troy:

"What's up?"

"Nothing much. Went out with Annie."

"You mean legit went out or friends went out"

"it was a date"

"AWESOME! I mean I knew this was going to happen but I also didn't?"

"I thought it was a dinner among friends too. Annie however quoted Friends in a way which made me act on my feelings."

"You'd better not make me a third wheel"

"Even if you were, it wouldn't last long. From what I have examined, most girls will be all over you because of the cool adventures you went to."

"Hey, now I have one more reason to finish this trip quickly"

Abed sent him a gif of him doing his finger guns and Troy sent him a gif waving him goodbye.

Perfection.


End file.
